Now and days I hear woodwork from home, business opportunity, be your own boss build furniture all day without ever leaving your home. Now and days everybody has a system that works for a business some will sell you a book on it others will send you plans, and one will even give you your own 800 # tied to your cell phone. Now I know right now you are dreaming of making dust and it magically turning into money. Well let me fill you in on a little secret. No system you buy will ever work 100% let me explain One of the things is we as hobbyist do is run to the nearest lumberyard for our material well we pay retail or get a small discount on what we use well when you get into a system you tend to do the same thing sometimes you luck up on a small time operator lumberyard that works with you and gives you a 20% discount WOW your rolling big now Right? NOT What separates the pros from the DIYer’s is where we get the material, the hardware, and the knowledge to work with. right now I know your thinking like this cat right here

My God he is killing my dream, my little business, my hopes!!!! Well to tell you the truth I am I was thinking the same thing was running the same game as the books I read said to do. I followed some of them to a tee but I asked for advice and it sometimes worked but I always seemed to fall short as a woodworker till I got baptized not by no preacher or water but by a sales rep in the cabinet industry in knowledge Knowledge I hated to hear but soon became sweetness I tried to fight and reason to stay dry hoping to not get doused with this seemingly painful words tearing my little world apart but it made sense. What was this holy grail I was handed? Well it is simple 1. just because you do woodworking does not mean crap to anyone I know you do but no one cares you do woodworking it is what you can do for them. 2. Buying big box most of the time they try to kill the little guy distributors that work with woodworking shops are the way to go (note: you need to be a licensed business) 3. The three P’ not the pigs but Products, Place, And Perceived value it all boils down to this one if you are offering the same things the competition is or using retail materials that any common store sells then you are just asking to be the laughing stock of the town and get beat up on labor cost. Why would I pay $65 dollars for imported cheap plywood when I can get domestic grade top of the shelf for about the same cost. The place sometimes we run into friends and family that support us but that is not always the way for some some just can’t afford you or the materials putting up flyers only pisses people off or gets the cops called, ads bring in the common crowd but one of the things I learned from a jobs class is networking basically starts with you finding people who appreciate nice built things, and are willing to buy but be warned to #1 again put your business out first (what you offer) then elaborate on your self and finally Perceived value If you show up dirty don’t have the displays, products and the ability to show and explain then you will always be the garage woodworker who can never get that new toy because no one values me because I am always competing on price instead of value and as a executive one told me Value only has value if it is valued !! Now sometimes I am like the cat in the picture but then that is a good thing sometimes we need to Know that we are in the wrong area going the wrong way even if the fields are green and grassy I hope this is some help and in 2013 the tide will change I will post more on this here in this Blog So yo think you can go pro Stay tuned

-- Proverbs Ch:3 vs 5,6,7 Trust in the lord with all thine heart and lean not unto your own understanding but in all your ways aknowledge him and he shall direct your path elmerthomas81@neo.rr.com